Children’s Book Illustrator’s Journey with Devon Holzwarth

Thriving Women Artists Podcast

Devon Holzwarth is an award-winning picture book illustrator, author, and painter. She joins Ping and Dorien to tell you all about her life as a Children’s Book Illustrator as well as her creative journey that led her there. Listen in for some great advice from someone who has broken into the illustration industry for themselves.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Devon went to Rhode Island School of Design art school where she majored in textile design. She majored in this because she thought that it had better job prospects than if she had chosen painting. She graduated in 2000 with a BFA.
• Devon moved her life to Germany when her husband was offered a job there. It was only supposed to be for a few years but she now calls the place home. The great thing about being an artist was that she could work from anywhere and the new environment could lead to new interesting opportunities.
• The moment that will take you to the next step can be scary and uncomfortable, which makes it hard for many of us to take it. Devon’s moment of taking that step was more of a push, so she didn’t have the opportunity to become wrapped up in whether or not she was comfortable or not.
• One piece of advice that has stuck with Devon is when she was told ‘you need to put ten years into something before it begins to become successful’. This freaked her out because she found something she enjoyed and didn’t want to wait ten years for it to come to fruition. This lit a fire in her and gave her focus to succeed faster than the ten years she’d been told.
• Devon decided she should make her own dummy book of her story about a boy and a bee which she took with her to Bologna. She showed it to the people she met there and one of the pieces of advice she got was to separate the one story into two. So she had one story about a bee and one about a boy. That advice she received really paid off after receiving a publishing offer.

BEST MOMENTS

‘I can do the same thing from somewhere else and be somewhere more interesting’

‘Sometimes it’s a matter of knowing who you are, it’s difficult to unravel in some ways’

‘You just need one more little push then you recognise that your path’

‘If an art director tell you to send them something, you better send them something’

EPISODE RESOURCES

Devon Holzwarth

Devon Holzwarth (@devonholzwarth) • Instagram photos and videos

[e-mail]

ABOUT THE GUEST

Devon Holzwarth is a picture book illustrator, author, and painter. She is a recipient of the Schneider Family Book Award and a notable Sydney Taylor Award, as well as a Society of Illustrators gold medal winner. Born in Washington D.C., Devon grew up in Panama surrounded by nature and her dad's art supplies. She has lived in many other places, including Germany, where she currently resides with her husband, two kids, a galgo dog from Spain and a little dachshund from Romania.

Devon earned her BFA in 2000 from the Rhode Island School of Design focusing on screen printing and painting. She has written & illustrated “Found You” and “Sophie’s Stories” and has illustrated a number of picture books including “Tia Fortuna’s New Home”, “LISTEN, How Evelyn Glennie, a Deaf Girl, Changed Percussion” and “Everywhere With You”.

ABOUT THE PODCAST

A serious and fun podcast for female creatives hosted by Ping, Dorien and Sarah, three happy artists from Amsterdam. This podcast will inspire you to make a living out of your art. We welcome you to be part of this community of like-minded people.

www.thrivingwomenartists.com

www.instagram.com/twapodcast

ABOUT THE HOSTS

Ping He

Ping is a watercolor artist. Her work is inspired by nature and her motherhood experience. She develops her greeting cards brand and teaches Botanical Illustration courses online and offline.

www.pinghe.art

[e-mail]

www.instagram.com/pinghe.art

Sarah van Dongen

Sarah is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist. She takes her sketchbooks and art supplies everywhere, which results in illustrations based on observation and daily life.

www.sarahvandongen.com

[e-mail]

www.instagram.com/sarahvandongenillustrations

Dorien Bellaar:

Dorien is an illustration artist. Her work is mainly focused on illustration for children, editorial/food illustration, hand lettering, and she likes to combine those into both traditional and digital art.

www.dorienbellaar.nl

[e-mail]

www.instagram.com/dorienbellaar

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